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Social support assessment

from Psychology, health and illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
Brian Lakey  and
Jay L. Cohen
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
Brian Lakey
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
Jay L. Cohen
Affiliation:
Wayne State University
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
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Summary

In this chapter, we review different approaches to assessing social support, as well as research evidence indicating the psychological and environmental characteristics that these measures reflect. A comprehensive review of all of the major social support measures is beyond the focus of this chapter, and we refer readers to recent comprehensive reviews (e.g. Brissette et al., 2000; Wills & Shinar, 2000). In this chapter, we briefly describe different types of social support measures, and review research bearing on their validity. We focus on the most widely used types of measures, although we also briefly describe under-utilized and more recently developed approaches.

Types of social support measures

There are at least three different types of social support constructs and measures; perceived support, enacted support and social integration/network characteristics (Barrera, 1986) (see ‘Social support and health’). Each type is most often assessed by self-report, whereby research participants complete questionnaires about participants' perceived availability of support (perceived support), the amount of specific supportive actions received (enacted support), or the number of different types of relationships in which people participate (social integration). Measures of these different types of support are only modestly related to each other, and relate to mental health, physical health and other constructs in different ways (Barrera, 1986).

Description of types of social support measures

Measures of perceived support

Measures of perceived support (also termed ‘functional support’, see chapter on ‘Social support and health’) ask respondents to make subjective judgments about the availability of support, or for some measures, about the quality of the support typically received.

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Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 321 - 326
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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